What makes a king?
by False Sky
Summary: It's been a few years since the end of the Apocalypse Virus. Shu is living peacefully, if not necessarily happily, in a rebuilt Tokyo, but the Crown of the King is not swept aside so easily. In the midst of a normal day, a familiar figure arrives to uproot Shu's life once again. Rated T for suggestive content, and for the darker tone.
1. Another Beginning

**A/N: So this is my second attempt at a fanfic. Honestly speaking, I should be studying for finals, but I made the mistake of watching Guilty Crown recently :3. In any case, this is born out of my procrastination, and nagging inspiration from a couple sources. A warning if you've read my other fic, though; this mood of this one is going to be very different. **

**Not much else to say, except that I hope you like this… well… sequel, I guess!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Guilty Crown or any of its characters, but I do like most of them, enough to write a story around them ^.^**

_2042 AD_

It'd been three years. Three years since the fall of GHQ. Three years since the world had been freed from the Apocalypse Virus. Three years since he'd lost his vision, his right arm, and more.

What an empty three years it'd been.

Shu Ouma leaned his head back, letting the breeze wash over his face. It was too cool, almost chilly even, but he welcomed the wind's bite. Ever since he'd lost his vision, he'd learned to appreciate the little things that could touch his other senses; anything to make him feel like he was still alive. The touch of the wind, the taste of daifuku, the smell of fresh rice, the melodies of Egoist…

But that line of thought only led to pain, so he stopped thinking about that. He tried to think about something else instead, something happier. He was going to see- well, meet- some old friends soon. Of course, he visited and even stayed over at Tsugumi and Ayase's place often, so it wasn't like that was a big deal, but it'd been quite a while since he'd talked with Yahiro or Souta. After all, Yahiro had a job, and Souta, well… he'd tried to keep in touch with him, but it was too awkward to be alone with him, in spite of his straightforward personality. Or maybe because of it; Shu still thought Souta could be a troublesome person, and their talks were always painful because, really, the biggest thing that had tied them together was…

_No, don't think about that_. Well, he still liked Souta as a friend, so as long as they weren't left alone, everything should be alright. He was looking forward to asking Yahiro what his job was, since he'd been so hush-hush about it. He'd compared notes with Ayase and Tsugumi, and eventually even asked Kanon outright, but none of them had any clue what he was doing and why he was trying so hard to keep it a secret. One time, when he went to visit Ayase and Tsugumi, they bet on it; he bet Yahiro was working as a trash collector, while the girls both bet that Yahiro was working as a host at a host club. That had made him laugh- it'd been completely worth the pillows planted in his face a second later. At least, it was better than the alternative, the nagging doubt that Shu had hidden away in his heart: that Yahiro had gone back to dealing-

He blinked, then his eyes flickered to the left. In any case, he knew that the other two were also looking forwards to the event, Tsugumi in particular, since she thought of them as part of her family. He knew she was working extremely hard; aside from her teacher's licensure exam, she was also working on a secret side project. Oh, both she and Ayase might try to keep it hidden from him, but he could hear the fatigue in Tsugumi's voice whenever he visited, and once, when he slept over, he'd heard a rapid series of clicks and whirrs. Much more than Funell could make alone. It had sounded a lot like Funell had had babies.

_Er…_ Not in the literal way, of course. Anyways, it looked like she planned on spilling the beans when they met up with Yahiro and Souta, since she'd gotten so busy she wouldn't even respond when he called. He'd just have to wait and see. He wouldn't have to wait long, anyways. After all, it was already almost Hare's birth-

He got up abruptly. His head was aching, and he no longer felt like just sitting around in the park. It seemed like no matter what he tried, the pain was always there, right below the surface. _What an empty three years it's been, if I can't think of anything that doesn't hurt,_ he thought bitterly.

He grabbed his cane, and, sweeping it vigorously in front of him, walked out of the park.

* * *

A little later, he sat on a bench in Shibuya. It had been one of the first places repaired after Blessed Christmas. A surprising amount got done in three years; it sounded livelier than it'd ever been three, four years back. If he listened closely, though, he could still hear the sounds of construction crews off in the distance. He didn't do so often. Usually, when he came here, it was so he could drown out his thoughts with noise. Still, there were definitely risks, in coming here.

"What's wrong?" he heard from a girl nearby, not directed at him. "You look like you saw a ghost."

"I-I… It's nothing. Let's go," came the voice of a second girl.

"Hold on, wait for me!" protested the voice of the first girl, fading away as she spoke.

Shu smiled ruefully. He'd faintly recognized the second voice. That girl must have attended Tennouzou High three years back. Of course nobody from back then would want to see him; it would just bring up bad memories. Besides, it sounded like she had built another life after the end of the Apocalypse Virus. He was glad she was doing alright, even if he couldn't remember her name.

This was the second time this had happened. Last time it'd also occurred in Shibuya. Even though Tennouzou High was a fairly large and very nice school, it was hardly the only high school in Tokyo (_and a quarter of my class is gone, as well_), so a chance meeting like this was rare. Maybe it'd happened other times, too, and he'd just not noticed them. It's not like he recognized them by face or Void, and his hearing was of limited use in Shibuya. The music that constantly blared from the 109 department store was usually nice, though. Repetitive, almost mechanical pop songs suited him right now, even if he never really liked that type of music. Still, he had to be careful, listening to the giant screen, because one of the risks of coming here usually came from it.

He let his head droop, as if he were sighing, as he listened to one song, and then another. And then, the music changed once again, to an achingly familiar song.

_"Mou anata kara aisareru koto mo…"_

He stiffened for a moment, and he smiled sadly. This was the risk in coming here; Egoist were, once again, playing their signature song, _Departures_. He should have expected this, really. It had been the song that had stopped the first coming of the Fourth Apocalypse, and then the second, as well. It became a hit, no, an icon, literally overnight, as if the sweet, sad lyrics could contain everybody's feelings of the Apocalypse Virus.

His chest started hurting, but made no move to escape the sound. Every time he heard this song, it ripped at his heart, yet every time he heard this song, he felt better, somehow, as if it could lighten his load. It made sense, said that rational part of his mind, every time he thought about it. After all, this was Inori's- _throb_- Inori's song. Although it hurt to even listen, her voice still had the strength to heal him, even as thinking about her ripped him apart again. So, he sat there, frozen, as he listened to Inori's voice tear his heart apart and heal it again, over and over, for four minutes.

* * *

He stood up to go as soon as the song ended, but hadn't walked more than five steps before somebody bumped into him.

"Wha-"

"Oh-"

He felt himself overbalance as another person, already falling, grabbed onto his coat in an attempt to stay standing. He fell backwards, as the person- no, a teenage girl, he could tell by the voice- fell onto him, heavily.

"Oof." He grunted as the air was driven out of his lungs.

"Nngh… Oh my god!" said the girl, getting up immediately. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going. Are you alright?"

Shu, trying desperately to take a breath as she scrambled to her feet, her supporting hand pressing down on his chest, could only nod. "Here, let me help you up," she said.

There was an awkward silence as Shu got up, by himself, remembering to grab his cane as he stood. "Oh, my god, you're- I'm sorry, I didn't realize. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"No, I'm fine," said Shu, as he brushed some gravel off his coat. He heard the girl sigh, almost imperceptibly, and start walking away. He frowned at her back; here was another risk in coming here. He patted his pocket to confirm what he already knew was true; his wallet was gone. Honestly, it'd been the third time this month. This was getting ridiculous, really. The biggest threat to humankind had vanished just three years ago. People should be happy, so why were so many people stealing?

"Wait!" he called out to her back, and her footsteps stopped. "There is one thing."

"Yes?"

"Could you hand me back my wallet?" He heard her let out a tiny gasp. "I seem to have misplaced it in your pocket."

"I-I… Let me see," she stuttered. There came the sound of fabric rustling as the girl, reluctantly, took his wallet out of her pocket. "You're right. Here you go," she said, walking towards him and placing it in his outstretched hand.

"Thank you," he said as he put his wallet back into his pocket. Then, he took a step forward, hearing some onlookers murmur as she gasped. "A piece of advice. Don't try to rob a blind person. I could feel your hand the second it entered my pocket," he whispered, hoping he was loud enough and close enough to her ear for her to get the message.

Well, not like it should matter to him whether or not she did. She didn't respond as he stepped back, and then walked away.

* * *

Ten minutes later, he was standing on a train when his phone rang. He frowned before picking up the call.

"Hello?"

"Shu? There you are." answered Haruka. He could hear relief in her voice, followed by an undercurrent of annoyance. "Why didn't you answer my calls?"

_Eh?_ "Did you call?" He hadn't heard anything, but that might just be because… "Sorry, I must've been in Shibuya when you called," he explained.

"Shibuya?" He heard surprise in her voice. "What were you doing there?"

"Shopping for glasses, of course."

"Shu…" he heard Haruka say admonishingly, and he blushed a little at his own immaturity.

"No reason, really," he mumbled in reply.

"I see." One of Shu's eyebrows lifted up as there was a short pause. "Well, when are you coming back?"

"I'm heading back right now."

"Then, can you stop by the convenience store and pick up your dinner on your way back?"

"Oh, are you working late today?"

"Yes," she replied, apologetically. "I'm really sorry, Shu, but I need to finish this report for them. They want you to come in tomorrow, too. Is that alright?"

"Yeah, it's fine."

"Ok." There was another short pause, then, "I might be able to come home at eleven."

"That's good," said Shu, noncommittally.

"Take care of yourself until then, alright?"

"Mmhmm."

"…Bye, Shu."

"Bye."

Shu sighed as he put his phone back into his pocket. Ever since the events of Blessed Christmas, Haruka had become very protective of him. It had been a jarring change, at first, but compared to everything else, it was like nothing. He had needed it, in a way. He wasn't sure he would have made it through the first few months without committing suicide if it hadn't been for her support. In a way, it had felt like the years they spent together right after Lost Christmas: even with their losses, they'd been able to find a sort of happiness. That lasted for about six months, until Haruka had found a job. No, that wasn't quite right; until a job found Haruka.

He sighed again. Truth be told, he had liked that side of Haruka; he still liked it. But when she continued tried to protect him, when both of them knew she could do no such thing, when she wasn't even nearby half the time? It grated. Even though it was no fault on her part, it still grated.

Two and a half years ago, after the dust had settled and reconstruction had begun, the United Nations had set up a research facility in Japan called the Centre for Apocalyptic Protection and Prevention, or CAPP, for short. Their aim, in short, was to investigate the sudden disappearance of the Apocalypse Virus, to assess the likelihood of its return, and to take countermeasures against any possible return of the Virus. The results of their investigation were still classified information, but what Shu did know was that somebody, or a couple somebodies, had singled both Haruka and himself out. He only knew that because he had learned that from two representatives of the CAPP, who'd paid them a visit.

It was pretty common knowledge that Haruka had been a senior researcher on the Apocalypse Virus, but they had somehow known that Shu had been the one who had taken away every last trace of the Virus on the planet, and destroyed it. That second fact had been distressing; as far as he knew, only his close friends and the members of Funeral Parlor had known what his Void could do. He didn't think any of them had been asked, so who could've betrayed him?

Somebody had probably just let that fact slip by accident. After coming to that conclusion, Shu promptly forgave them, even though it'd been a potentially life-shattering secret. After all, some things in life were unavoidable, and hadn't he made mistakes just as bad?

Well, it _had _affected his life, but not as badly as it could have. It had become classified information instantly, as far as he could tell, and he and Haruka were made an offer. For the rest of their lives, CAPP would provide gratuitous amounts of money for the two of them, and keep the secrets that would have made them both into unwilling celebrities. In return, Haruka would return to CAPP in order to lend her expertise to their research team, and Shu would come in, every once in a while, so they could run tests on the boy who had, well, if he were being honest with himself, managed to turn the Apocalypse Virus against itself. It was a pretty good deal, Shu had to admit.

A nice gilded cage.

_Wow._ He was really in a mood today, wasn't he? It's not like the thought wasn't true, he supposed, but it was one of those thoughts you should never think, like the thought that Haruka sometimes looked hot enough to-

_Urk._ Even though he was squicked out by his own thought, his ears went red nonetheless; which, well, only increased his self-disgust. _Ugh, please. I'm not going there._ Just another reason to hate himself, he guessed.

_"Don't hate yourself anymore, Shu. You don't have to blame yourself."_

"Right," he mumbled. "Sorry, Inori. I forgot."

* * *

He walked down the quiet street quickly. This route was etched in his memory, so he knew exactly how long it would take until he reached the convenience store.

_67, 68…_ He turned on the next step, already knowing he was at the right place by the light touch of the air coming out of the store, and entered.

From the sounds of rustling, it seemed like two or three other people were in the convenience store along with him, wandering the aisles. He opted not to join them. Instead, he went directly to the cashier. "Hello," he called out in greeting.

"Eh… Oh, hello, Shu!" replied the shopkeeper, a somewhat tubby, balding fifty year old man. He didn't actually know what the man looked like; all of that had been told to him, although Shu probably could've guessed the tubby part from the slight wheezing the man gave off. "You should have called before you came! Luka would've liked to see you."

Luka was the shopkeeper's seventeen year old daughter. She was lively and funny, and wore a nice scent of perfume. He'd first met her maybe a month after he started using this convenience store, back when she was still in junior high and her voice had been higher in pitch. Sometimes, he got the feeling that she liked him; her old man certainly seemed to approve, and took every opportunity to have the two talk. Nothing had come of it, though, and although it was nice talking with her, he didn't think of her in that way.

"Sorry," he said. "I'd hate to interrupt her club activities, though. I'm only here to pick up dinner today, anyways."

"Ah, that's a shame," sighed the shopkeeper. "Well, then, is there anything in particular you want?"

"Hmm…"

"My wife baked today's pork buns this morning, if you can't decide," said the old man, nudging Shu's shoulder with his elbow.

"I'll take that, then," Shu said, chuckling. "Here," he said as he pulled out his wallet.

He had a little trouble after he paid, as he tried to hold onto his cane and the pork buns while he put his wallet back. The cashier usually helped, but another person had come up to pay for something, so Shu just rested his cane on the desk. By the time he was ready to go, the other person had already paid, and as he walked out the door, the other person brushed past, muttering.

_Wait, what?_ He felt something fall into his coat pocket, while at the same time, his brain registered the snide, bloodcurdlingly cold voice. "Well, well. Shu Ouma himself."

_That voice-_ he recognized that voice. He recognized it, but he didn't want to_._ Still… he recognized it. "You..." he hissed, in a low voice, and then, as the person walked away, paying no heed to him, he shouted. "Yuu!"

The steps continued, without the slightest pause. "Don't make a fuss here, Shu. Let's talk elsewhere," said the voice, words laced with a familiar arrogance.

It sounded exactly like Yuu; but then, what was he doing here? The Apocalypse was over, and Gai and Mana were safe from Daath. Everything was already over; there was no point getting involved with Daath again. If it even was him. Shu had to be sure.

So, He turned away and started walking in the other direction, away from his home. He took ten steps, and then twenty, until the only sound he could hear was his own footsteps. Before long, he heard a sound like rustling leaves, followed by a set of footsteps keeping pace with him, and that same cold voice.

"Impertinent."

_Shit, it's him_, Shu had the time to think before Yuu spoke again.

"To be expected from one was almost king, I suppose."

_King._ That word brought up mixed emotions. Really, it seemed like everybody had been saying that, three years back. He shoved those feelings aside and said roughly, "Why are you here?"

"To speak with you. Obviously."

A vein might have popped out in Shu's temple. It _had_ been obvious. "Why do you want to talk with me?"

"Why do you think, Shu? I always move on behalf of Daath."

_Figured that much, _thought Shu. His annoyance was beginning to crest_._ He stopped walking, and turned to the blond-haired envoy. "Then let me rephrase my question. What does Daath want with me?"

Yuu chuckled coldly as he also stopped. "What we always want, Shu; to restart the Apocalypse, for the evolution of mankind."

_Well._ He wasn't exactly surprised, but… "Stop talking bullshit, Yuu," he said shortly. "The Apocalypse is over. Inori destroyed the Virus. Gai and Mana are safe from you."

"Yes, I suppose that doll really did ruin our plans," Yuu said, dispassionately, as if he were commenting on the weather.

Rage rose up in Shu's chest, and his fist shot out. He felt it connect with a satisfying _thunk_, followed by a grunt of pain. "Inori is not a doll," he growled, trying to glare at Yuu.

"Aie…" muttered Yuu from a little to Shu's right. He redirected the glare back towards the source of the voice, aware of how foolish he must look, but not really caring. "That's a very nice prosthetic, Shu. It's faster than your old arm, I think. Definitely stronger."

"Yuu-" Shu almost began to shout, but by this point, he just felt tired of it all. So instead, he simply muttered, "Stop wasting my time." He turned around and began walking back home.

"Ah, yes, my apologies. I would hate to interrupt your wandering of the city, oh blind, broken, one-armed king. Time well spent, no?"

"I don't want to hear that from somebody who should be dead because of that same boy," replied Shu coolly.

"Heh," chuckled Yuu, sounding amused. "Well, dodging your attacks-" suddenly his voice came from Shu's other side- "is like child's play to me. Still, I was surprised that you managed to overpower me in the first place. To be expected from somebody who could be king, I suppose."

_Seriously, stop calling me that_, Shu thought wearily. Aloud, he said, "Can you please stop calling me that? I'm done; I rejected you. Those days are over."

"Hmm…" mused Yuu, in a thoughtful tone of voice. "You did reject me. That is true. Still, you've proven you can succeed against the odds, so I'm willing to give you another chance."

Shu suddenly felt cold. "What do you mean?" he heard himself ask. "The Virus was destroyed."

"How naïve," commented Yuu casually, before clearing his throat to explain. "The Virus was destroyed, but the Apocalypse will still come. The Virus was only a convenient way to bring the Apocalypse about, but there are many other ways to force humankind's evolution. Well, Shu? How would you like to bring mankind into the future?"

"You…" Memories flashed through his mind; of his raids with Funeral Parlor, of the desperate times of Tennouzou High, of Jun, of Hare and the other Tennozou High students. "You've got to be joking me!" he shouted. "Something like that-" Images of Mana, before she found the meteorite; of Gai, as Triton, and as himself; of Inori, standing on a dais, chained to a cross made out of crystals- "Who would ever want something like that?!"

Yuu seemed unimpressed by his outburst. "Seriously, Shu, you're _so_ close-minded. How about this, then? You said you wouldn't stay with just Mana for eternity. What if, instead, it was Inori?"

_What?_

"The crown does come with benefits, Shu. Or, if you don't believe me, remember how we brought back Gai and Mana."

_Inori…_ "You're telling me, if I sacrificed the rest of the world, I would get Inori back?" Shu asked, in a strangled voice.

Yuu abruptly seemed to get bored. "Who knows?" he said, noncommittally. "Anything is possible." He sighed, and then said, "Sweet dreams, Shu. I'll be seeing you soon enough." And with that, he abruptly left, accompanied by the sound of falling leaves.

Shu stood there for a moment, until the sound of approaching people knocked him out of his thoughts. He went back home, then, to a dinner that tasted like cigarette smoke.

* * *

He stepped out of the shower a few hours later, feeling refreshed after his workout. It was still fairly early- he'd heard the clock strike eight right before he got into the shower- but he was tired, so he decided to go to sleep anyways. There wasn't a whole lot he could do to fill up his time, ever since he lost his sight, and he didn't really feel like listening to music or a light novel right now.

There were always a couple things he did before going to bed, however. First, turn off all the lights, because even though he couldn't see, it was still wasteful. (He always left the front door light on for Haruka, though). Next, he turned on the TV to listen to the news for a little bit, but he heard nothing worth noting. Then, he grimaced, remembering that he was supposed to visit CAPP the next day, and took out his ID card and put it beside his bed. Finally, he reached for his phone, resting his hand on it for a moment. When it buzzed, he knew somebody had left a voice mail recently. He listened to it.

"Hi, Shu!" came Ayase's voice cheerfully. "Are you doing alright? I probably called when you were showering, so I hope you're alright, 'cause I'm not. Tsugumi's been an absolute demon recently. She only comes out of her room to go to the bathroom and eat everything in sight." She chuckled, then paused for a moment, before adding hesitantly, "Say, Shu… Is it alright if I drop the cake at your place tomorrow? I'm afraid it's going to get eaten here…" A quick pause, and the hesitation was over. "Anyways, call me back soon, please. I would like somebody to talk to!" Shu could literally hear the smile that'd been on her face as she hung up the phone.

He smiled to himself. She still had a little trouble asking for help. It was cute. He wrote a message (strange how, even though he couldn't see, the finger movements had been ingrained in his memory so much, he didn't need to see what he was typing) saying: "Anytime after 5 p.m. is ok. Sry for not calling, too sleepy atm." Then, he sent it.

He got an answer almost immediately afterwards. The phone buzzed, and he brought it to his ear automatically until he realized it was a text, and his eyebrow twitched. She was probably annoyed at him, then. She knew he had no way of reading texts aside from asking Haruka, and the last time he'd done that, Haruka had simply burst into laughter before reading out all the descriptors directed at him. He hadn't known that Ayase could be so… imaginative… with certain parts of his anatomy. He didn't ask Haruka to read his texts anymore.

"Aiya…" he groaned aloud, as he let himself fall back onto his bed. _That's too bad. Oh well, at least I get to see her tomorrow,_ he thought. He put the phone aside and slipped into his blankets.

* * *

He saw, in front of him, a square of black. It was funny; black had always been the dullest colour he could think of, but even so, just by being able to see the colour black, he knew already that he must be dreaming.

Still, it was strange. Lately, his visual memories had been fading, to the point that he could barely remember what Inori's pink hair looked like. His dreams had been following suit, until everything had blurred into a fog of grey. Here, though, he could clearly see straight lines, and the fact that they outlined alternating squares of white and black. He hadn't been able to make that distinction in a while, but beyond that, he could even tell that what he was looking at was a floor. Amazing.

He looked up.

He saw metal bars in front of him, each spaced out by a pane of glass. Beyond that, he saw a sky of brilliant blue, dotted by wisps of white that were… clouds. Right, they were clouds. Wow, he must be really high up. He reveled in this dream, as his newfound vision helped him remember objects that were inaccessible to a blind person.

He looked further up, and saw a circle on the wall, with an arrow pointing out from its center. It was ornately carved, out of a dark-coloured wood. As he watched, the arrow was slowly moving clockwise, so slowly it was almost imperceptible.

He looked to his side, and saw a person standing by the wall, next to a series of buttons. This was… _Right_. He glanced around him once to confirm. It looked like an elevator. He turned back towards the other person, who was the only other person inhabiting the elevator. As he turned towards her, she looked towards him, and he blinked in surprise.

She wore a muted brown dress. It would have looked fit for a princess, if she hadn't been wearing wide-rimmed hat that was the same colour. The woman herself was strange, as well; her skin was dark, or at least, darker than his, yet she had flaming red hair, the sort he'd never seen before, the sort that belonged to a person lighter skinned than pretty much anybody he knew. Even with that strange combination, she was quite pretty. She was smiling as she looked at him, not too widely, but enough to crinkle the skin around her eyes.

He blushed a little, and turned away. It'd been a while since he'd actually seen a girl; talking with one wasn't quite the same when you were blind. "Eh…" he mumbled, before asking awkwardly, "Where are we?"

The woman giggled in reply, eyes closing in mirth. "An elevator, of course! We're going up!"

"R-right." They _had _been going up; the clouds were whizzing by, he hadn't noticed before. He looked back up at her. Their eyes met-

And the dream ended.

* * *

Shu's eyes snapped open instantly. He didn't feel even a hint of grogginess; he'd woken up completely in an instant. Something must've woken him up. He listened for a moment, and heard light scuffling noises coming from the kitchen. Haruka must be home.

He sighed. Even though his eyes were open, nothing had changed. He still couldn't see anything. The sharpness of the dream he'd just had was fading, too. He thought about that dream. He'd seen things he hadn't seen in a long time, things he'd forgotten. He'd never had a dream like that before. Did it mean something?

_"Sweet dreams, Shu."_ Shu shuddered upon remembering those words. He pulled the sheets closer to him, and tried to go back to sleep.

**A/N: Whelp, finally decided on a plotline I wanted to use (Took long enough). I'm locked into it now; time to see where it takes me :3**

**Hope you enjoy. I'll probably release the next chapter within the next couple weeks, while everything's still fresh.**

**Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the object Yuu drops in Shu's coat. Shu might've, though.**

**P.S. Seriously, Yuu should be a character option.**


	2. Secrets

**A/N: Fairly long chapter (twice as long!); wanted to put a lot into it. **

**Sorry I took so long; I've been juggling work and study all summer, and got massively distracted besides when I decided to try an SMT game for the first time. Those bosses... Thank you for the reviews, though, GKOS, tsukinopen, Elmion, and Almorlyx; kept me motivated to try to finish it, instead of saving it for the school year lol.**

**Not gonna make you guys wait any longer (yeah... sorry...)- hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Guilty Crown. If I did, I'd probably have given Ayase cat ear phone thingys as well. **

**Hmm. Maybe not.**

"What's keeping him?"

It was a bit after eight in the morning. The sun was peeking fitfully through barrier of gloomy, grey clouds, but, at least, it didn't look like it was going to rain. The construction crews had started up again. The crane right across the street swung parallel to their window, casting a patterned shadow onto their apartment. One bar of shadow fell across the dining table, where Haruka sat blearily, coffee mug in hand. She'd just woken up, half-stumbling out of bed, as usual, and had made herself coffee and breakfast (in that order of importance), as usual. It wasn't until she took a sip of her coffee, and yawned hugely, that she'd realized that Shu wasn't awake yet.

_Weird._ Shu was normally awake before she was. He always greeted her with a soft "Good morning," to which she always responded with a zombie-like groan. It was an unusual day, for her to have slept later but woken up earlier than him. She resolved to make fun of him for it, and perked up with a mischievous energy.

A few moments later, when she was completely awake and almost done breakfast, Shu's door finally opened. Fully dressed, but walking as sluggishly as if he'd just woken up, he went straight into the bathroom. "Good morning!" Haruka called cheerfully, with a smile on her face.

Shu started, and turned to face her. He must not have heard her moving around, if he hadn't known she was awake. "Good morning," he replied, in the same soft tone he always used. "You're up early," he added, before turning back around to pick up his toothbrush and the toothpaste.

"No, you're up late."

"Oh, weely?" Shu said, voiced muffled below the sound of brushing. He gargled and spat, before adding vaguely, "I see..." He rinsed his mouth before moving over to the toilet.

"Ah, Shu," Haruka called out, hurriedly.

"…Right. Sorry." The bathroom door closed, leaving Haruka staring at it, half surprised and half amused. _He really must be tired to forget to close the bathroom door. Or maybe he does this every morning before I wake up?_ She wondered how Shu spent his time, sometimes. She idly thought up silly scenarios as she crunched down the last of her toast and started washing her dishes.

The toilet flushed, and Shu came walking out of the bathroom, looking a little more energetic. "What time is it?" he asked Haruka.

"About 8:30."

"Wow. That _is_ late." The refrigerator door opened, and after some fumbling noises, it closed again. Haruka glanced over, seeing orange juice, bread, and jam out on the table.

Three years back, she would have already prepared everything. They'd had to make some adjustments, the first few months, as Shu got used to his blindness. She hadn't really minded; the changes were mostly just minor annoyances, and if those annoyances ever starting adding up ominously, she simply reminded herself that she was helping Shu, and that was a good thing.

That routine hadn't lasted, though. Part of the reason was her job offer at CAPP. It became hard to synchronize their schedules; although her hours weren't all that bad, the work was demanding, and she was the sort of person who took pride in doing things well, so she tended to stay late, and subsequently, started waking up later. That made it nearly impossible for her to prepare any meal at all.

Thankfully, it hadn't become a problem. Even before she started working at CAPP, Shu had already mostly adjusted to his new lifestyle, and had gotten better at doing things without the use of his eyes. The two of them were very alike in some ways; they both liked being self-sufficient. By now, Shu pretty much did everything by himself.

Not that it meant Haruka didn't make an effort to put the orange juice back in the same place every time, still.

She watched him as he ate, not so much out of a sense of worry or obligation, but just because she wanted to. Even though Shu was arguably a grown man now at twenty years old, she still subconsciously thought of him as the same energetic, charismatic child who loved exploring and seeing new things. That was probably why she could still of him as adorable, even while he was doing something as ordinary as eating breakfast. His tiredness only made it even cuter, to the point that she wanted to hug him.

So she did.

"Haruka…" Shu said in a patiently annoyed tone. He'd gotten quite good at it; that was probably a testament to how often this happened. His cheeks still went pink every time, though, and Haruka smiled. Some parts of him hadn't changed at all.

"Ye-es?"

"Wanna let me eat breakfast?" he asked. He'd managed to add an aggrieved note to that tone somehow, but his slightly sullen expression said he already knew what the answer would be.

Haruka pretended to consider his question for a few seconds, before answering. "Well, I haven't blocked your arms or mouth," she replied, grinning.

Shu rolled his eyes in response and went on eating. Haruka found herself left with a bittersweet feeling in her chest. Strange, how he still remembered how to do that motion, despite not having used his eyes for three years. That line of thought then made her think about the pile of work waiting for her in her room, and she winced. She ruffled his hair once before deciding to let him eat in peace, and let go. "I'm going to go do some work, alright, Shu?" He nodded, scowling as he flattened his hair back to normal.

She'd already taken a few steps towards her room before she remembered something, and turned back around. "Hey, Shu. You do remember we're going to CAPP today, right?"

Shu blinked, possibly in surprise, but if he'd actually forgotten about it, he covered it up naturally. "Yeah, of course. When are we leaving, today?"

"It's just a routine check-up this time, so we don't have to go for another half hour."

"Ah, ok." Shu nodded. After a slight pause, he added, "Can you turn on the TV before you go?"

This was one of the few things Shu still sometimes asked for help with; he could do it himself, but it tended to take a lot of time. After all, the TV screen didn't have any buttons on it, and Haruka hadn't quite been able to drop her habit of leaving the remote everywhere.

"Mmm," Haruka said, understanding. She picked up the remote- it was on the kitchen counter, today- and flipped to channel four, the news channel.

"-found last night at 1 a.m.-"

She tossed the remote onto the couch before going back to her room. Sitting down in her chair, she ignored the piles of papers currently scattered around her desk. She'd read all those reports last night- there wasn't anything particularly significant or pressing contained within them. Instead, she picked up a pen and a clean notebook, before leaning back in her chair, thinking.

_Is it possible to replace the bases governing the core structure of the pre-stage I virus without disassembling other parts of the genome? Maybe a retroviral with the ability to produce a specific multiple-targeted endonuclease complex… _

Although it was true that nearly all the traces of the Apocalypse Virus had disappeared (she still wondered how Shu had managed that, but she was grateful he'd been able to), a small part of its structure remained attached to the human genome. The piece seemed incomplete at first, but judging by the structure of the incomplete ends, it was possible that it'd functioned as a receptor site for the Virus itself. That opened the possibility of other viruses evolving to latch onto that new "backdoor," as well as the threat that a new virus from space would be compatible with the piece. Either way, she was trying right now to find a way to get rid of that vulnerability in their genetic code.

It was an important and challenging job, and interesting enough that her mind could almost instantly immerse itself in her work. That was probably why she didn't notice the light footsteps coming from the kitchen, a few minutes later.

"… can YOU TELL US, OFFICER?" suddenly blared the speakers by the television. It was loud enough to make Haruka jump in her chair. She twisted in her chair, her train of thought completely lost.

"Oi, Shu!"

"…"

"-SEEMS TO BE THE WORK OF-"

No response.

It was going to be impossible for her to work like this. She stomped out of her room, but a slight chuckle escaped her as she left. She could hear Shu's message loud and clear, even if he hadn't said a single word. "Eh? Too loud? But, it's not blocking your eyes or your hands." Along with innocent eyes, a confused expression, etc. etc.

Still, there was no way he was going to be actually saying that aloud; no way she'd hear him in this noise. In fact- and Haruka smiled, a little vindictively, as she rounded the bend- it was probably unbearably loud for Shu, who was right beside the TV, and had sensitive hearing, too. Then, she frowned as she immediately recognized the flaw in her logic. _Wait no, he'd just- Yep_.

She smiled wryly as she was greeted with the sight of Shu, who, with fingers plugged into his ears, was facing roughly in her direction, grinning the cheekiest grin she'd ever seen. She walked forwards, and took the remote in one hand, muting the TV then turning the volume down, while she smacked Shu lightly in the back of the head with the other. Shu started- she taken the care to walk a wide circle around him so he wouldn't feel the air she displaced, and therefore not realize she was there- and as he turned, she gave him a light kiss on the cheek.

Shu just turned to look at her, still with the cheeky grin on his face, although he'd taken his fingers out of his ears. He laughed, but otherwise didn't say anything; he didn't need to.

Well, she wouldn't say anything either. Instead, she went back to her room, taking the remote with her.

Behind her, she heard Shu shifting on the couch, presumably to turn back towards the TV, and then: "Haruka? Where'd you put the remote- oh."

* * *

Half an hour later, Haruka was waiting patiently by the door as Shu quickly threw on his coat and his shoes. He was in the middle of putting on one of his shoes when his hand, thrust into his coat pocket for his extendable cane, touched a small object. He remembered instantly.

"_Well, well. Shu Ouma himself."_

He grimaced at the memory, tempted to throw the thing out the window. Who knew what it was? A bomb? A tracking device? Another targeting beacon for another leukocyte?

Except even as he was thinking those thoughts, his fingers had already traced the object's surface. As far as he could tell, by touch, by weight, by shape, it was simply a small, thin metal plate. It was much too thin to contain anything at all, and it was about the right weight, too. It didn't seem to be anything other than a plate of metal. Its only distinguishing feature was a set of digits inscribed on it. Ten of them.

A phone number?

Haruka's voice interrupted him then. "Eh? Shu, what's the matter?"

He blinked as he came back to his senses, hearing some concern in her voice. Right; he was supposed to be getting ready to go. He considered telling her what had happened to him the day before, but ended up stopping himself before he could open his mouth. What could Haruka do, if she knew? Say that it'd all be ok, that it was all lies? Call a manhunt? As if that would work with Yuu. There was nothing, really, that she could do, except worry. It would be pointless. So instead, he put on a self-conscious smile for her, and said, "I almost forgot my ID card in my room. I'll go get it right now."

It wasn't really a lie, he thought as he walked back to his room; he actually had _almost_ forgotten his card in his room. And, well, he could always tell her everything later, right? He could keep this a secret, for now.

He wouldn't realize until sometime afterwards that he wasn't the only one in that room keeping secrets.

* * *

CAPP's temporary headquarters were located in the Nakano district. Although a building was under construction, in accordance with CAPP's long-term goals, it would not be finished for at least another two years. The building CAPP was currently using was a rental, of a sort. It had been one of the largest of GHQ's multipurpose satellite stations, and so it fulfilled CAPP's dual-role of investigation and scientific research perfectly.

The station was a decent size, although it would have been puny compared to the now-destroyed GHQ headquarters, which, admittedly, had dwarfed some skyscrapers. It was five floors tall, with most of those floors decided to office space. A section of the lower two floors had been used as storage for GHQ's Endlaves, but all of the moorings and dockings had been ripped out. Instead, the place was now used for as a parking lot, albeit one with an eerily high ceiling. The armory, next to the former Endlave storage, had also been emptied out; some of the smaller firearms had been donated to the Tokyo police, and the rest had been taken by the UN. Otherwise, most of GHQ's original equipment was left intact, and the spots they'd assigned everybody reflected that. The top four floors were still office space, the ground floor still held a reception area and medical equipment for Virus diagnosis, and the two basement levels were still the labs, although they'd been converted from vaccination to research.

Haruka was there right now. More specifically, she was in one of the larger labs, watching some of the other scientists work. She was taking a break from her own work; although she'd had inklings of an idea that morning, she wanted to spend more time ironing her theory out. So, she'd chosen to stand here, as she often did, musing on her own problems, but also accessible if any of the others had any questions. She considered the latter to be just as important as the former, if not more. After all, wasn't it her duty, as pretty much the world's current expert on the Apocalypse Virus?

_Emphasis on current. _Her thoughts began to stray back in time, before she realized what she was doing and grimaced, focusing her mind back onto her work. Thinking of Kurosu was painfully pleasant, even after nearly a decade and a half after his death, but it wasn't something she should be indulging in at work, even if she was on break.

The door to the lab opened, and a young man stuck his head in. She, along with a few of the scientists currently working, glanced over curiously, but unlike the others, she made her way towards the door.

The intruder, out of place for his lack of a lab coat, continued to look around, until he finally saw her. "Ah, Ms. Ouma. There you are."

"What is it, Rudy?" she asked of her assistant, assigned to her by CAPP. He was a serious and efficient worker, albeit a tad dry, with a rather quirky thought process. He was a foreigner, but surprisingly, was also quite loyal to her, for some reason. At least, he'd spoken out on her behalf a few times in situations when she herself thought it hadn't been worth the bother.

"The guy from the Investigations Department is looking for you again. He's waiting in your office right now."

"Oh. Alright, then, let's go right now."

"Mr. Beedle also sent in a new request form for lab equipment that you need to sign, and…" he continued, as they walked back to the elevators.

Although she kept most of her notes in her research lab, she also had an office on the ground floor that she mainly used to receive people. She got distinguished guests, every once in a while, who came for a variety of reasons. Some visits were relatively pleasant, as much as those formal meetings could be. Some were not so pleasant; she'd also had to threaten to call security a couple times on guests who'd asked if she could develop another Void Genome.

This man was neither of those types of guests, which was a small part of why she was pleasantly anticipating this meeting. He'd joined CAPP about a year and a half ago, not long after she herself had joined. He was young, but capable enough to be recruited, although she also suspected CAPP had also had ulterior motives when they hired him. She knew Rudy disapproved of him, which she found amusing. She thought it might've been because they were both so similar, in capability, and parts of their personality.

In fact, now that she thought about it, Rudy might even be worried about being replaced, the other man was here so often. She doubted that'd happen; like her, this man was also a person of interest to CAPP, so the chief of investigations would probably want to keep direct authority over him.

She opened the door, and saw him immediately, sitting at the couch, a collection of files on his lap- even though there was a table in front of him- with a pen clenched between his teeth. He looked up as she opened the door, and nodded in greeting as he took the pen from his mouth.

"Mr. Sumakawa," she said, returning the nod to the current secretary to the chief of investigations, and former drug dealer and classmate of Shu.

"Ms. Ouma," replied Yahiro, standing up respectfully. "Sorry to cut your break short."

"Oh, no, it's perfectly fine," she replied, waving her hand dismissively. "What can I do for you?"

"Ah. Well, there are a few things," he said, eyes flickering down to his collection of files, then back up again. "First of all, some new samples came in from the police this morning. They found a dead body, and they believe that a Void might've been involved… again." His expression was guardedly neutral, but his voice was slightly laced with scorn.

Haruka personally mirrored that scorn, although, unlike Yahiro, she didn't bother hiding it. "Again? We've done this over and over, and every time, the results came up negative," she said, in an exasperated tone of voice. Neither of them chose to respond, and after a moment, she sighed. "Alright, we'll take it. The samples are being held at the usual place?"

Yahiro nodded- "That's right-" and she turned to her assistant. "Rudy, could you…?" she began to ask, turning towards him. He looked briefly confused and about to protest, but after a moment, gave her a quick nod instead. He closed the door behind him as he left, and Haruka sighed again, this time in relief. Then she turned back towards Yahiro, motioning for him to take a seat on the couch before sitting down herself. "Hi, Yahiro. It's been a while," she greeted him again, in a warmer tone this time.

"Ah, well, the chief hasn't been sending me here as much recently," Yahiro replied as he sat down. "I probably shouldn't be here, in fact. That sample analysis request, it was actually put in the pile of the person beside me."

"Oh? But I thought you had other things to bring to my attention?" she asked, although she suspected she knew the answer to that question.

Yahiro grimaced. "Not really," he admitted. "A possible sighting of a sample of an unbroken Apocalypse crystal, a couple requests to fake an investigation into a potential outbreak-" his tone hardened, and Haruka grimaced; they both found the thought of using the Virus to discredit business rivals abhorrent- "but nothing that couldn't have been sent through interdepartmental emails." He paused then, looking down at his work intently, as if trying to remember something else.

_Might as well save him the effort_, thought Haruka. "Sounds like you've been pretty busy," she said, adding a hint of a question into her tone of voice. Yahiro seemed to have heard it; he looked up, brows furrowing for just a moment.

"Just day-to-day stuff, all of it," he said, giving an almost theatrical sigh before continuing. "One of the leads we were following hasn't resulted in anything for a month, now. The chief's not happy." He looked back down at his clipboard, and then looked up again, his mouth curving upwards ever so slightly. "He might just scrap that part of the investigation," he said casually, looking at her significantly.

Her eyebrows narrowed as she mulled over his words, then they went back up as she figured out what he meant. She grabbed a pen and a sheet of paper, and then wrote out the word "Congratulations" on it. He smiled, upon seeing it, and mouthed back "Thanks."

Although they didn't talk about it at work, in case somebody overheard, she knew a little about how and why he ended up joining CAPP. It seemed he'd been investigated, the same way Shu had been, albeit about six months later. Although CAPP had certainly talked to many Tennouzou High students, simply for their relation to Shu, it seemed they'd taken a special interest in him because they'd managed to find out about his former status as Sugar, street drug dealer. He'd been taken in for an interview, and, somehow, instead of coming out in handcuffs for previous crimes, had come out with a job offer.

_Something_ had happened, but she wasn't sure what, and Yahiro tended to be vague on the details. She did know that he had joined partly in order to protect other people from investigation. He'd assumed that CAPP would be interested in other people like him: a) connected to Shu, b) had colourful pasts, and c) had been sighted as using Voids. He'd been right, of course; his suspicions had been confirmed once he'd done some snooping around other people's case files. CAPP was looking for the two Funeral Parlor members who'd masqueraded as Tennouzou High students.

The investigation hadn't gotten far; Tsugumi had used her hacking skills to cover up their trail well. Still, CAPP had apparently been slowly closing in on them. They'd gotten off-track since, led astray by Yahiro's subtly-fed misinformation.

Haruka wondered if the two girls knew they were hunted. She doubted it. She sometimes felt Yahiro had a problem with secrets. It seemed he'd never actually told them of the potential danger, although according to him, CAPP had never actually gotten close enough to justify it.

In any case, it looked like the danger to them was past. She wondered if he was going to leave CAPP. "Oh, no. I hope you're not too discouraged?" she asked.

His facial expression didn't change, but he took a moment before answering. "No, not at all. It's all part of the process, right? Besides, there are always other things to do."

It certainly didn't sound like he intended to leave_._ "That's true," she said, nodding. Yahiro's eyes flickered back down towards his work, and she watched him for a moment. Then, in a quieter voice, she said, "Shu's here today, you know." She saw Yahiro's body tense almost imperceptibly.

"Mmm."

"He's here for a check-up, again. Routine." Yahiro merely nodded, so she continued. "Do you want to go down and see him?"

Yahiro squeezed his eyelids shut, before opening them again. "He left about half an hour ago," he said, shortly.

"Oh, that's go- What?" Haruka's eyebrows rose, and then came together. "I told him to text me when he left." She started digging into her pocket for her cellphone.

"If I had to guess, I'd say that you don't have signal in the basement. Check now, maybe?" Yahiro suggested with a deadpan expression on his face.

Haruka had already taken her phone out, and flipped the screen up. Sure enough, she had a text. A vein might've popped out in her temple. "I must not have felt it when we were in the elevator," she grumbled, feeling annoyed at herself.

Then, she snapped her phone shut and put it back in her pocket. "So you already went to see him, huh?" she said, smiling again. "Did you say hi to him?"

"…"

No response, again. She pursed her lips, trying to judge what to say next. Maybe if she gave a small push? "Yahiro… You should tell him, you know. You can't keep hiding this forever."

Yahiro stood up abruptly. "If you want him to know, you could just tell him yourself," he said, clearly annoyed.

"It's not my secret to give away, Yahiro. It should be you who tells him," Haruka said, as gently as she could.

For an instant, a strange expression crossed Yahiro's face, his face contorting as if he were struggling between two different emotions. He quickly squeezed his eyes shut, and took a deep breath before his facial expression went back to normal. "Eventually," he said, before reassuming his business voice. "In any case, I should be going back, now. Thank you for meeting with me."

It was a dismissal that reversed the chain of command, but Haruka didn't say anything as he walked to the door. He opened it, nearly bumping into Rudy on his way out. Her assistant looked at him askance, as if amazed at the lack of an apology, before taking a seat at the couch. He had in his hand a cup of coffee from a place nearby, and took a few sips, before turning to face her. "Is everything alright?" he asked, concernedly.

"Hmm? Yeah, everything's fine," she said distractedly, still thinking of Yahiro and Shu. Then, she registered the cup in her assistant's hands, and one of her eyebrows twitched. "Rudy. Where are the samples I sent you to get?" she asked, annoyed for some reason.

"Ah, well. I'm not allowed to pick those up myself, Ms. Ouma. You have to be present to sign the forms."

Haruka blinked. Then, turning away, she took her right hand and slapped herself on the forehead. "Right." _I forgot. How did I even forget? I've always had to be there whenever they sent new samples. I must've really been distracted by Yahiro. _A thought occurred to her, and she turned back to look at her assistant quizzically.

"Why didn't you remind me when I sent you to get the samples?" she asked. He gave her a quick, confused glance before his expression cleared.

"Ah, well, you see, it looked like you wanted to talk to him in private and I didn't want to interrupt, so I decided to go grab a cup of coffee while I waited," he said brightly, as if his answer made perfect sense.

_Er._ One of her eyebrows twitched, again, and she let her head fall back onto the table. _What sort of logic is that? It would have taken one second to tell me, Rudy,_ one_ second. _She was exasperated by this point, but she asked him one more question. "Couldn't you have at least gotten me a coffee, too?" she murmured, voice muffled by the table.

"Ah! I'm sorry, I didn't know you wanted one," she heard him apologize, in a completely sincere tone. "Would you like some of mine?"

She turned to stare at him. Sharing coffee? Cross-contamination of germs? Potential backwash? She took an unfortunate breath through her nose right as she was about to answer him, which made her hesitate, but after a moment, she said, "No, it's fine." _I mean, you _do _drink your coffee black... _"Let's just go and get the samples now, alright?"

"Ah, yes, ma'am." She waited for him to set his cup down before leaving, locking the door behind them.

* * *

Up to this point, Shu had had a very lazy day. He'd come straight home after his check-up instead of wandering the streets of Tokyo, as he often did, and had gone straight to his bed to sleep. He'd woken up just about in time for lunch, and had gone out to the nearby convenience store to pick up another set of pork buns to eat. Since then, he'd napped some more, picked up two of Haruka's calls and ignored a third, listened to music, and was now lying on his couch, listening to a drama CD that Haruka had recommended to him.

Even amidst all the gurgles and screams and low moans of "Braaaaaaains," however, he was finding it hard to focus on the CD. Although he kept trying to focus back onto the sounds entering his ears- sounded like the girl had just tripped and fell- his attention constantly went back to the small plate of metal he was flipping across his fingers.

Ten numbers. Without even trying to, he'd already memorized the set of digits, to his own consternation. All he knew about the number was that its area code corresponded to Tokyo, which didn't surprise him at all. Beyond that, he had no idea where the phone connected to the number was located; for all he knew, Yuu could be sitting in an apartment just down the street, waiting for his call.

Shu shuddered. That had been a dark thought, and pretty foolish, too. Still… he had a decision to make. Should he call, or should he not call? On one hand, he needed information, and Yuu wasn't the sort of person to just go away after being ignored. He was like a really pushy salesman, in that way.

He chuckled. The sudden thought, though silly, reassured him a little, but he soon sobered up. _On the other hand…_ On the other hand, Yuu clearly wanted him to call. It would probably end up sucking Shu further into Daath's affairs, and that was one thing he did not want at all.

Or did he? _Inori…_ Biting his lip, he dragged his thoughts back to the present. What was with that dream, anyways?

A faint sound cut through the backdrop of moans and hisses coming through his earphones, knocking him out of his reverie. He sat up and stuffed the metal plate into his pocket before taking his earphones off. A moment later, the doorbell rang again, this time clear, distinct, and unobstructed by the sounds of his drama CD. His brow furrowed for a second before he remembered that Ayase was supposed to drop by.

He was about to get up when something made him hesitate, and he tilted his head thoughtfully. It hadn't felt like he'd been sitting there long enough for it to be five o'clock, yet. He reached for his phone and turned on the voice command function. "Time," he commanded, trying to enunciate clearly.

His phone beeped in response to his command, then replied in its awkward, synthesized voice. "4:15 p.m."

His brow furrowed again, and his hand drifted towards his pocket. Certainly, Yuu could probably just teleport into his apartment, but he could've sworn the others who'd been with him had been human. Was Daath knocking at his door?

Then, he shook his head sharply, and chided himself for being overly paranoid. It was just a coincidence that he'd been thinking about Daath when the doorbell rang, that was all. Still, he hesitated, even as the doorbell rang once again. Better to be safe than sorry, right? Maybe Ayase had mentioned something in her text.

His fingers tapped on his phone three times as he opened her message. "Read text," he said aloud. The phone beeped once again, and then began to read:

"Received: Yesterday 8:32 p.m. from contact Ayase. Message: Sree eff zero arr interrupting err booty sluh three three pee, comma, pruh 1 incess, period. Oh ho ho ho ho ho." Shu's eyebrow twitched. As was par for the course when she was annoyed at him, Ayase had sent him a text that was barely borderline understandable- if he listened to it ten times. Even though he was quickly mentally translating as he went along, the only words he'd understood properly were for, interrupting, and princess. _Booty? Must be beauty, so… sleep. And princess. Ugh._ Annoyed, he nevertheless grinned wryly before focusing his attention back to the message.

The message cut off halfway through the next wholly unintelligible sentence, as his phone began to ring. Shu started back, surprised, and then reached for his phone with some trepidation. He hesitated before pressing the receive call button, and put the phone to his ear.

"Hey, Shu. It's me," came a voice that was unmistakeably Ayase's. "Are you at your apartment right now- eh? Shu? Is that you?"

He'd let out a huge breath he hadn't realized he was holding when he'd heard her voice, and then had scoffed at himself for being a paranoid fool. He answered her properly now, upon hearing her confusion.

"Yeah, sorry about that. It's me. I'm at my apartment."

"...Was I interrupting something?" came Ayase's voice, sounding a little wary.

"Huh? No, not at all," replied Shu, confused at her tone of voice. "I was just listening to a drama CD, that's all."

"Right…" Ayase sounded… edgy, which made Shu furrow his brows. She continued in a low tone of voice. "Well, I'm at your door, so if you could come open it for us? Umm… Maybe after you wash your hands?"

"Wash my hands?" He'd gotten even more confused, so he tried to think back to what he'd said to Ayase to make her this weird. He made the connection quickly. _Hurrk. _"Ayase! You don't think I was-?"

"I don't know!" she said defensively, not quite yelling. "You just let out this huge breath right when you answered, and then this stupid little laugh! And you said you were listening to a drama CD! What am I supposed to think?!"

"Not that! I was-" Shu spluttered. How to explain it without telling her about Yuu and making her worry? "I don't listen to that kind of CD!" he finally replied lamely, unable to come up with any good ideas.

"…Yeah, well, I dunno," came Ayase's mumbled reply. "How am I supposed to know what you do all day?"

"What kind of sex maniac do you think I am?" Shu asked incredulously. "I swear I wasn't doing- that."

"I'll take your word for it," said Ayase doubtfully. Then, she quickly changed the subject. "Anyways, come open the door for us, already! The cake's not exactly light, you know."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," he grumbled as he got up from the couch. Then, he registered what she'd said. "Wait, did you say- us?"

"Mmmhmm," replied Ayase, sounding satisfied. "I met an old friend of ours at the cake shop."

"Really? Who is it?"

"Just come already so you can meet her in person, lazyass," Ayase grumbled.

"At least tell me so I can greet her properly," Shu insisted, but Ayase had already ended the call. He growled a bit at his phone, which made him feel a bit better, before walking over to open the door. "Hel-lo," he said warmly, putting a smile on his face. "Come on in."

"Hey," replied Ayase on reflex. Shu's other visitor, on the other hand, paused before greeting him, as if she were collecting her thoughts. Her voice, when she spoke, was steady, low in pitch, and warm. "Hi, Shu. You look healthy."

Shu tilted his head, thinking. Her voice was a bit deeper now, and she sounded much more calm and confident, but it was still very familiar. "Kanon? Is that you?"

"Mmhmm," she confirmed, probably nodding at the same time.

A smile spread across Shu's face. "Well, come in, then. I'll make some tea." He waited for them to take off their shoes, and then brought them into the kitchen, chatting over the sound of Ayase's wheelchair all the way. "Wow, Kanon. It's been, what, almost a year since we've seen each other? You sound different."

She laughed at that. "Well, I _feel_ different."

Shu chuckled as well, although he wasn't sure what she found funny. "You sound calmer. Very mature," he continued, as he grabbed a kettle from the cupboard.

"Awww. Thanks, Shu," she said, sounding pleased. He heard the sound of a chair scraping on the floor as she took a seat at the table. "You've changed a bit as well. You look more muscular, now."

"You think so?" Shu smiled, then frowned slightly. He brought his arm up, flexing his biceps. "I guess. I'm still just as skinny, though." He poked at his arm, dissatisfied with what he felt, before filling the kettle up with water.

"I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing," replied Kanon, her voice now coming from the centre of the table; she must be leaning forwards, with her head propped up. "Don't you think so, Ayase?"

"Hmm?" A rustle of some sort of fabric came from near the couch, and then: "Sorry, I wasn't listening. What was the question?"

"Being skinny isn't a bad thing," answered Kanon, voice more muted now. She'd turned to face Ayase.

"Course not," she said, sounding as if she were stating the obvious. "Most people try to get skinny, instead of the other way around, right?" She continued without waiting for an answer, her voice becoming clearer as she turned to face Shu. "Oi, Shu. You listen to this stuff?" she asked dubiously.

_Huh? Oh._ She must've been listening to the drama CD. "Not really, no. It's my mom's," he replied, rummaging through the cupboards. Where did they put that box of tea leaves, anyways? _Ah._

"That just makes it worse, you know," said Ayase. Shu paused long enough to shoot a glare in her general direction.

"Are you still going on about that?" he growled, and was rewarded with her laugh. He kept his smile off of his face as he went on grumbling. "Why are you even here? I swear all you do is hassle me and freeload off of me."

"Hey!" said Ayase, sounding scandalized. "At least I brought a cake this time."

Kanon laughed, and Shu couldn't help smiling, himself. "True," he admitted. "Alright, eat as many snacks as you like. Where'd you put the cake, anyways? I should put it away."

"Ah, it's right on the table, but…" began Ayase, who then hesitated.

Kanon spoke up after a short pause. "I can keep it in my dormitory. I was intending on picking it up, anyways- that's how I met Ayase in the cake shop, before we came here- and I'm closer to the restaurant, anyways."

"Yeah, I forgot to tell everyone else I was gonna pick it up. Sorry!" added Ayase.

"Well, I can take it if it's too inconvenient for you-" he started saying, but Kanon interjected.

"Not inconvenient at all. I already opened a space in my fridge for it. A couple days shouldn't be a problem."

"Ok, then." He paused for a moment as he poured the water into the teapot, and then asked, a little anxiously, "How does it look?" They'd switched to a new, fairly obscure bakery for their cake this year, so he was worried about the quality of the cake. The two previous years, they'd been using a well-known bakery, but they'd unanimously decided to try a new place when Tsugumi discovered a "service fee" that had basically tripled the cost of their cakes.

"It looked really good when they put it in the box," answered Kanon. "It's better than the one last year, for sure. Well, as long as this one doesn't get squished, too."

"It's fine, it's fine. I'm trying not to let Tsugumi near it, trust me," said Ayase with a laugh.

Shu smiled as well, remembering what Ayase was referring to. Last year, Tsugumi had apparently gotten home from class late on the day of their annual meet-up. In her rush to get ready, she'd carelessly thrown her jacket onto a chair by the door, not realizing that Ayase had put the cake box there, ready to go. Unfortunately, the weather had been fairly cold then, so she'd been wearing a heavy winter jacket. The result was a half-smushed cake half an hour before they were supposed to eat dinner, with no way of finding a replacement. For a couple months afterwards, they would not let her live it down, although Shu did remember that the smushed part had tasted the best.

"Anyways, Shu, how come you're the one worrying so much about how it looks?" asked Kanon curiously, and he turned his attention back to the conversation.

He pursued his lips thoughtfully, understanding what she meant and considering how to answer. It _was _ironic that the blind guy worried the most about how something looked, wasn't it? But the reason was simple. "Well, I just want everything to be good. That's all."

"That's a good reason," said Kanon, sounding satisfied. There was a brief lull in the conversation as Shu passed them both teacups: "Oh, thanks." They drank, and Shu was about to ask how Kanon was doing at university, when music suddenly filled the air.

"Ah!" gasped Ayase, who dug into her pocket for her phone. The song continued to play- it was the recently popular "Fluffy Unicorn Love Love," Shu noted with a snicker- until he heard a couple quick taps, and the ringtone stopped, followed by a cheery "Hello!"

The voice was tinny as it came through the speakers, and very faint, but Shu could still barely make out the answer. "Ayase? It's me. Where are you?" came a familiar sounding voice.

There was a short pause, and then then rustle of fabric. "Uh-oh. I have to take this call," Ayase told them. Her wheelchair began to buzz mechanically as she started moving towards the hallway.

"Eh? How come?" Shu asked. If he wasn't wrong, that had been Tsugumi's voice.

"I didn't tell Tsugumi I was coming here," Ayase explained, sotto voce. In the meantime, Tsugumi's voice came out from her phone once again. "Ayase? Are you there? Is someone with you?"

"Ah," whispered Shu back, understanding now. He could almost see Ayase grimacing and setting her shoulders, before saying, "Hey Tsugumi. I'm here, I'm here." Her voice faded as she rolled her wheelchair down the hall.

"What was that about?" asked Kanon curiously, once Ayase was out of earshot. Shu almost gave a start, and turned towards her. He'd almost forgotten that she was there.

"Ah, she's in trouble. Tsugumi's probably gonna shout at her a bit for going out alone," he said. He was aware that his explanation was inadequate, but he wasn't sure how else to put it. Sure enough, he could almost hear Kanon's confusion as she spoke again.

"In trouble? For going out for a few hours? Why?" She sounded insulted at the thought.

Shu shrugged. "I'm not sure." He thought he might know why, but he wasn't sure he was right. "There's still a wanted notice out for Funeral Parlour members, isn't there?" he offered.

"Hmm…" grumbled Kanon, clearly unsatisfied.

"Or maybe Tsugumi's just a tyrant," he said flippantly. "In any case- how's Yahiro? Did you ever find out what his secret job was?"

There was a short pause before Kanon answered. "…Is this about your bet?"

Shu blinked. "Ayase told you about it?"

"The first thing she asked me about on the train was Yahiro and his job," replied Kanon dryly. _That cheating little…_ Shu thought, before Kanon continued. "I thought it was strange, so I asked her why she wanted to know, and she told me all about it."

"Hmph," grunted Shu. "So what'd you tell her?"

For a while, Shu thought she wouldn't answer. When she did answer, she sighed first before speaking. "I haven't met with Yahiro in months. So…" she trailed off.

Shu arched and eyebrow, then shook his head, unsure if he'd heard right. "Wait- really? How come?" he asked, surprised.

"We both got busy," said Kanon, discomfort entering her tone.

"I thought you liked him, though?"

For some reason, that seemed to annoy her. She muttered something under her breath to the likes of "So even you knew?" "Sorry?" he asked, not sure he'd heard right.

"Nothing." She fell silent, and Shu took the hint and didn't say anything, either. Instead, he tilted his head thoughtfully. Something seemed a little off with what Kanon had said, but he wasn't sure what. Before he could travel very far on his train of thought, however, he heard the sound of rolling wheels start up.

"So? Did you get a detention?" he asked Ayase as she approached.

Her tone of voice left little in doubt as to the glare that must be on her face as she replied flatly, "Funny." The sound of turning wheels stopped abruptly, followed shortly after by the sound of somebody slumping onto a table. "Worse," she said, sounding absolutely devastated. "Much worse."

"What happened?" asked Kanon, concern in her voice. There was a rustle of fabric, and then Ayase took a deep breath before she spoke.

"Tsugumi… blocked my Lexicon of Leprechauns accooouunnt," Ayase whined, drawing out the last syllable.

"Eh." Kanon's tone of voice was flat, as if she were too surprised for emotion.

Shu, on the other hand, snorted. It was exactly what he'd expected Tsugumi to do, considering how much Ayase had fallen in love with that game. Honestly, one mention of the game during a conversation was enough to set her off for a good five minutes or so- which was useful when Ayase called when he actually _was_ busy. "I thought she might. How far along were you?"

"Really far along! I was about to hit top five in Japan, too! And she said she'd permanently block it if I missed dinner! Grr… Tsugumi! I swear…" Shu fancied he could hear Ayase grinding her teeth as she progressively got angrier and angrier, and he suddenly felt that he would not want to be in Tsugumi's shoes that night.

Well, he never felt that way at all, but that night least of all nights.

"You… you play that game?" came Kanon's voice, with a dazed quality to it.

"Eh? Yeah," said Ayase, knocked back from her scheming rage into a normal tone of voice. "Why? Do you?"

"Hmm, no, but half the boys in my dorm do," said Kanon. "They're completely obsessed- I hear them talking about it all the time. I bet they'd go bonkers if they ever met you, actually." Her tone turned dry. "The concept of a competent female gamer seems completely foreign to them."

"Really?" asked Shu, amused. "You should introduce Ayase to them, Kanon. Have her use a smurf account and pretend she's only an amateur player. Then wipe the floor with them, pretending it's all accidentally." He grinned to show he was joking.

Ayase, however, seemed to take his suggestion seriously. "Does your computer have it installed?" she asked Kanon.

"Yes, actually, I do. I was going to try it, but never ended up having the time to."

Shu stared in the direction of one of the girls, and then the other. "Hold on, you're actually gonna do this?"

The two girls ignored him and continued on discussing. Shu rolled his eyes before leaning back in his chair to listen.

* * *

"Oh- God, it's already 5:30? I need to go, I have class soon," said Kanon abruptly.

Shu blinked at the sudden interruption. He was aware they'd been talking for a while- they'd long since finished talking about LoL, and had moved on to other subjects- but he hadn't thought it'd be an hour.

"You have class on a Friday night?" he asked over the sound of fabric rustling.

He could practically hear her grimace as her tone became pained. "Yeah, I do," she said. "Isn't it terrible?"

"Do you need me to show you how to get out of the building?" he asked, gripping the armrests of his chair to get up.

The sounds paused, and she said, "No, no, don't get up. I know where to go." There was the sound of a chair scraping on the floor, and the sound of cardboard creaking. "The day after at 6 o'clock, right? I'll make sure to bring the cake along. I'll just let myself out."

"Mmm, alright. Buh-bye!" called Ayase, to the sound of footsteps. He echoed her, and Kanon shot a quick "See you soon" as she slipped into her shoes.

"Bye!" Shu called, belatedly, as the door shut, leaving him alone with Ayase. He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "She's changed a lot from last year, huh?"

"Mmm." Ayase grunted, accompanied by a silent squish. Her voice, when she next spoke, came from slightly above the table's height. "You know, she's a total party animal now."

Shu's eyebrows shot up instantly. "What? Really?"

"Mmhmm," Ayase confirmed. "Gets drunk at a sip of wine and goes insane. She must be pretty popular."

"Huh." Shu rubbed his forehead, amazed. "I… can't see it, at all. Who told you?" he asked. He didn't doubt that Ayase was telling the truth, he just wanted to know how she found out, since last time he checked, Ayase wasn't going to Tokyo U.

"I played Lexicon of Leprechauns for a while with some guy in her dorm, up 'til about a month ago. Nice guy, pretty decent at the game, and he told me all about himself and stories about his real life. He told me all about the crazy glasses girl at these parties, although I wasn't sure it was Kanon until today," Ayase explained. Her tone seemed to suggest she didn't quite believe it herself, so naturally Shu had to ask.

"How'd you figure out it was her?"

"Oh well... she had a mickey of vodka and a cooler in her purse. No notebook, no backpack, no laptop; there's no way she's going to class. Probably dinner and a party after."

"Huh. I missed those bottles," said Shu thoughtfully. Then, suddenly, he grinned. "Quite the detective, aren't we?" he teased. "Did you watch too much Sherlock Holmes recently?"

"Hah!" Ayase sniffed. "No. Detective Conan, actually."

"That ancient thing? Isn't it kinda… horrible quality?"

"I actually like the style. And the number of episodes."

Shu opened his mouth to say something, then thought better of it. _Can't believe _I_ was about to argue about how something looked._ Instead, he thought back to earlier in the conversation, to something that had been nagging at him. "Nice guy, telling you so much about his life," he commented, to which Ayase made a non-committal sound. "So, did he ask you out, or did you stop talking to him before it got that far?"

Ayase groaned. "I hate you when you get smart like that, Shu." She was silent for a moment, before saying, "Neither, to be exact. He," she paused again, as if to grimace, "posted this disgusting love-letter-poem-thing on the public forums."

Shu found himself smiling, all of a sudden. "Really? What was it like?"

"I almost puked," said Ayase. Then, after a moment of consideration, she deadpanned, "The second line was worse."

"Miss Top Five, picking up all the Lexicon of Leprechauns boys," Shu drawled, quite amused.

"I'm not top five yet," Ayase corrected him absentmindedly. She shuddered audibly. "I don't want that kind of attention, anyways."

He bared his teeth in a smile. "Fair enough," he said, before taking a gulp of tea. He put it back down a little too hard, slopping some of the tea onto the dinner. "Oh, jeez," he hissed, getting up to grab a paper towel.

"When's your next recalibration?" asked Ayase, and he paused long enough to think of his answer.

"Tomorrow morning," he replied. He ran through his mental schedule once more to make sure he was right, and nodded once he'd confirmed the time.

"That often? I thought you only needed frequent recalibration for big changes, like, you know, puberty. Oi, Shu, don't tell me you're still going through that."

Shu shot her a quick glare as he mopped up the tea. "No. Um, it's 'cause by simulating a twenty-year old's strength, there's more damage and cross-corruption in it and my body, so they need to fix it more often." He paused to take a sip of his tea before tossing out the sodden paper towel. "Besides, that way, they can make more money, right?"

"Hah, right," Ayase acknowledged with a snort. Then, after a pause, she asked, "Mind if I see it?"

"Huh? Umm, sure," he said. He wasn't sure what she was looking for; she'd seen how his prosthetic attached to his body before, but he rolled up his sleeve anyways. He heard Ayase hiss, and a moment later, a finger poked him in the arm. "Doesn't it hurt?"

"Huh? What?"

"These… strands, going into your arm. Don't they hurt?"

"Oh, those. No, not really, it feels normal. But if it's corrupted enough you can see it, then I guess it really is time for me to get it recalibrated." He began to roll his sleeve back down, but Ayase slapped his hand away.

"Hold on. Did this… move up your arm?"

"Yep… every recalibration has to destroy the parts that are too corrupted, so the prosthetic'll slowly move up my arm. Plus, I've sort been accidentally speeding it while working out." He laughed a little self-consciously.

"Hey, hey, if that's what happens, then you shouldn't do that," said Ayase in a worried tone. "Besides, what happens when it reaches the limit? Don't tell me you'll have replace your lungs and heart, too?"

"Eh, don't worry about it," he said airily, waving his hand even as he winced at the mental image. "I'll just start using a normal prosthetic when it reaches my shoulder. I never expected to get something this good, anyways."

"But it _won't_ be as good as this one, will it."

"Well, no," Shu was forced to admit before her flat tone.

"Shu…" He heard the faint rumblings of actual anger in her voice, and he tried to head it off without another thought.

"Don't worry, I'll deal. Anyways, aren't you forgetting about Tsugumi?"

"Huh?" There was a short pause, then the sound of a slap- she'd hit herself. "Shit! Right, I gotta go." The sound of her wheelchair started up, then paused abruptly. "This conversation isn't over, you know," she said sternly.

"Mmmhmm," Shu nodded, and Ayase started up her wheelchair once more. He listened as she rolled to the door and opened it, before calling out, "See you soon!"

"Yeah." With that, the door shut, leaving Shu alone in the apartment once more. He groaned and let himself faceplant onto the table. _You're an idiot, Shu._

* * *

A few hours later, it was evening. Shu had already eaten dinner with Haruka and gone through his daily routine. He checked his phone, charging by his bed, for messages, before turning towards the covers. He hesitated, then chided himself for hesitating, telling himself that dreams couldn't hurt him, and that he probably wouldn't even dream at all.

Besides, even if it did come, he couldn't do anything about it, so it didn't matter.

He slipped off to sleep about a quarter hour later.

* * *

There was a vibrant blue sky in front of him, dotted with clouds, some fluffy, some wispy. Breaking up his view into neat chunks were bars of some metal, burnished and grey. Drearily, subconsciously, he lifted up a hand to touch the metal bars, but stopped when he noticed saw the skin of his hand, which was a completely different colour. He inspected it curiously for a moment, before a nagging memory made him glance around himself.

He saw the very tips of a pair of polished black shoes, the rest concealed under cloth that was a muted brown colour. He followed the cloth up the dress, past a pair of gloved hands, elbows, and shoulders, until he was looking at a woman's face, dark-skinned, under a hat, with dirt brown eyes and green-tinted hair, that looked as if every strand were a gemstone. He blinked, as his mind slowly cleared, and he looked around the elevator once more, before settling back on the woman, who was now looking back at him.

"You look different," he said. The woman inclined her head, but otherwise did not speak. "I love what you've done with your hair," he said idly, and was rewarded with a slight smile- but once again, she did not say anything.

"Who are you?" he asked. She tilted her head to the side, a confused look on her face, as if she did not understand his question. He frowned, and decided to try once more. "Where are we going?"

Her facial expression grew annoyed, and her lips parted. "We're going up," she said matter-of-factly, before bringing a finger up to her mouth. "Now, shhh! It's almost time."

"Time? Time for what?" he asked, all the more confused. She simply shot him a glare, before returning her gaze to the panel of buttons in front of her, and he scratched his head. It seemed like she was one of those characters who would never give a straight answer, or at least, a helpful one. So, instead of continuing to ask her questions, he looked around himself once more.

Blue sky, white clouds, grey metal bars, and a constant stream of red steel at every corner that zipped by so quickly it was a blur. Black and white tiles beneath his feat, a pair of translucent arrows by the steel button panel, a carved circle made of wood, with faint lines radiating out from the center for most of the circle's circumference, along with one mahogany arrow. It really did look like he was in an elevator, albeit one made of glass, in the sky. Clouds occasionally zoomed by, although strangely enough, it didn't feel like the elevator was going all that fast.

He took a step forwards, and looked down. As he was tilting his head, he was suddenly hit by an immense wave of vertigo that knocked him onto his feet, eyes scrunched together in dizzy pain. He must've been very far up.

He tried crawling to the edge this time, hoping that that would help fight off the vertigo, but as he got closer, he became steadily more nauseous, until he finally gave up and spun onto his back, panting.

As the dizziness faded, he slowly became aware that the woman was staring at him- and that his white dress shirt had gotten loose from his pants. He came to his feet quickly, blushing, and tucked his shirt back in- and froze. He looked back down at himself once more. Why was he wearing dress pants, and dress shoes, and a dress shirt with a tie? What, exactly, was going on here?

He winced, and touched his fingers to his forehead. His head pounded, buthe also felt lucid for the first time in this dream. So, this was what Yuu had meant, about dreams? What did they have to do with kingship, or the Apocalypse? He glanced over at the woman standing by the elevator panel, which, now that he thought about it, was the only part of the elevator that didn't look at least thirty years out of date. The woman herself was wearing a dress from… Oh… A century ago? He wasn't sure. But, she was probably the best source of information… Even if she was only a figment of his imagination.

_Hold on, can't think like that, _he admonished himself mentally. He was dealing with the most dangerous person he'd ever met, after all. He couldn't make assumptions about what was possible and impossible, or significant and insignificant.

Besides, there was something very… tangible about this place. The colours were vibrant, the shapes defined. It hardly felt like a dream at all.

He turned back towards the woman by the panel, and clutched his head as it pounded, painfully. When he looked back up, the woman had turned towards him and was smiling widely. "We're here!"

The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open to a blinding light…

* * *

And Shu blinked, as he suddenly woke up, staring at the faint outlines of a ceiling, in the middle of the night. His head hurt, concentrated around his forehead and his eyes. He lay there for a while, before he groaned and rolled onto his side, gripping the covers tightly as he went.

**A/N: Ugh. Timeline issues. Originally set the end of the anime at Christmas b/c of how it matches up, but am just realizing now how problematic that makes things. It's a pity I can't find any good data on stuff like when Hare's birthday is, or how long they spent locked in Loop 7 during the quarantine. I'd be happy if anybody can find any good info on stuff like that, so I can fix the timeline, which, quite frankly, is a bit of a mess.**

**Artistic License- Universities! I actually have no clue if Tokyo U has (or I guess, in 20 years will have) dorms for second year students. I'm just going to not worry about it, since this isn't our universe lol.**

**Consistency in characters! I seem to either lack it or make my main characters more than 2D. Guess that all depends on the quality of my writing -.- At least I'll give you lots of opportunity to rag on my characters, since I have no desires to shaft any of GC's old characters! Except for the ones who are gone. Like, gone gone. I am NOT reviving Gai, as badass as he'd be.**

**Ok I'm rambling. **

**Finally, although I don't mind these types of endings, since it makes it a little easier on me to place them/write them (a.k.a. I suck at chapter transitions), I probably won't be doing this as often after, hmm…. The next chapter, or the one after that. **

**Last of all… Not gonna forecast a date for the next chapter, cause you guys know exactly what the quality of those guarantees are; but I do hope to get it out at the beginning of September, since I'll have nothing to do when my wisdom teeth get pulled anyways. **


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